Stories
Sally
‘If I go back to my hometown, I wear like normal. Like [a] man but you can see, soft lah. I don’t wear women’s clothes. If I don’t wear normal clothes, I will get hit.’
Sally, a trans woman, suppresses her gender expression due to the fear of rejection and violent reprisals from family members. She stated ‘If I go back to my hometown, I wear like normal. Like [a] man but you can see, soft lah. I don’t wear women’s clothes. If I don’t wear normal clothes, I will get hit. Wearing women’s clothes–no. But secretly yes. Like my sisters’ lipstick, when they are not around. I steal their clothes, yes. I really want to be a woman but until today, I am already old, I still cannot.’
Source: Justice for Sisters. (2021). Freedom of Expression and Transgender Women in Malaysia